“Golf has never felt so much like a freedom.”

Thanks to reader John for this from Bill Pennington NY Times piece on what golf courses are experiencing now that play has been reopened in all fifty states.

This:

There are more than 16,000 golf courses in America and only a quarter are private clubs. With schools padlocked, fitness centers closed and many parks and playgrounds off limits, golf — with social distancing restrictions — has become a rare outdoor respite that combines exercise, companionship, competition and space.

“With so many things you can’t do right now and so few things you can do,” Withington said, “golf has never felt so much like a freedom.”

Moreover, golf course operators nationwide said they are seeing something new in their client behaviors and demographics: entire families, cooped up at home, are arriving at the first tee to play together; sales of discounted youth golf passes are exploding; and more golfers are walking the course because usually only family members can share a cart.

“I’m also seeing a lot of people who haven’t played golf in a while,” said Scott Krieger, the head pro and general manager at Broadmoor Golf Course in Portland, Ore. “And more fathers and sons, fathers and daughters and husbands and wives, too.”